Mia Burroughs on Transfer Tax
Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board member Mia Burroughs sent out the following message this weekend. I thought it was an excellent argument for passage of the Transfer Tax referendum. Thanks, Mia!
Dear Friends-
I wanted to share with you my thoughts regarding the transfer tax. Although primary day is May 6th, early voting has started so I wanted to catch you now in case you are going to take advantage of that.
Why I Support the Transfer Tax
We have excellent schools. We are blessed with a diverse and growing student body.
Our community rightly insists that we serve ALL children so that each will be able
to pursue his or her dreams. In order to ensure we have highly-qualified teachers
and seats in buildings for each of these children, we will need to increase our County
Commissioners' options for raising funds.
Growth does not pay for growth. I believe that the fairest way to pay for schools is to
raise revenue from the transactions that are delivering new students to our system.
By law, we MUST serve each of these students. By our community's values, we MUST serve
each with excellent staff and facilities. In order to do this, one of two things will happen:
ANNUAL property taxes will increase to cover the whole shebang OR we can dampen property
tax increases and approve a transfer tax that is paid exactly once by the property
(commercial and home) seller. This method protects elderly and low-income residents
who fear being priced out of their homes from large increases in property taxes. Those
folks built our community and we shouldn't force them out.
The transfer tax is not new. It has been used for years, very successfully, in several
Eastern North Carolina counties so we don't have to worry about the law of unintended
consequences. It will allow us weave together the values that make Chapel Hill so great.
Please join me in voting for the transfer tax.
For more details, please go to www.4schools4parks.com.
Best regards,
Mia
Dear Friends-
I wanted to share with you my thoughts regarding the transfer tax. Although primary day is May 6th, early voting has started so I wanted to catch you now in case you are going to take advantage of that.
Why I Support the Transfer Tax
We have excellent schools. We are blessed with a diverse and growing student body.
Our community rightly insists that we serve ALL children so that each will be able
to pursue his or her dreams. In order to ensure we have highly-qualified teachers
and seats in buildings for each of these children, we will need to increase our County
Commissioners' options for raising funds.
Growth does not pay for growth. I believe that the fairest way to pay for schools is to
raise revenue from the transactions that are delivering new students to our system.
By law, we MUST serve each of these students. By our community's values, we MUST serve
each with excellent staff and facilities. In order to do this, one of two things will happen:
ANNUAL property taxes will increase to cover the whole shebang OR we can dampen property
tax increases and approve a transfer tax that is paid exactly once by the property
(commercial and home) seller. This method protects elderly and low-income residents
who fear being priced out of their homes from large increases in property taxes. Those
folks built our community and we shouldn't force them out.
The transfer tax is not new. It has been used for years, very successfully, in several
Eastern North Carolina counties so we don't have to worry about the law of unintended
consequences. It will allow us weave together the values that make Chapel Hill so great.
Please join me in voting for the transfer tax.
For more details, please go to www.4schools4parks.com.
Best regards,
Mia
posted by Mike Nelson at
2:36 PM
